Cyrus' Endgame
by PsychicEmbrace
Summary: Sequel to "Travels with my Gardevoir" and it will focus on events after the first part. The first part was confusing to follow so there is a nice summary to introduce and clear confusion. No lemon between Joseph and Elise (humanXGardevoir- clean) at this time. Rare possibility in the future. Thanks in advance for reading and have fun. T for language and violence. -J
1. Prologue

(Two days after the events of "Travels with my Gardevoir")

(Normal POV- Valor lakefront)

The waves rolled in slowly on the shore as two figures sat side by side in the sand. One was a boy and one was a Gardevoir. The boy's name was Joseph and he and his Gardevoir are from a distant region known as Regalia, a very underground region that is isolated themselves mainly from events in the five known regions with Pokémon leagues. Regalia is a lot like the world we live in, but Pokémon are a rare sight, as wars and economic expansion grip the region with iron claws.

Back in Regalia in the last story, Joseph was a pilot in a recent war that just ended. Before he left he had a regular life… a family, some stressful situations that were common with everyday people, he attended and graduated school and eventually joined the RAF- Regalia Air Force. In the military he received combat training and skills that he rarely uses today and brought home with him. He also left for war with a Pokémon egg sitting at home that he left behind. However, when he got home, he got word that a massive blaze took the lives of his parents, and his two dearest friends, Sarah and Jason, and a Pokémon that was presumed dead- referring to the egg. Joseph didn't take that too well and fell into a quick, bad, depression even though he got a replacement house and a new car. Little did he know, not all of those people who died were all dead… That night a Ralts broke into his home, bleeding out and lost. Joseph took this Ralts and healed it up and felt tied to it somehow. He decided to let the Ralts follow him. Concluding what had happened to the Ralts as an attack against her from humans, Joseph decides to leave Regalia and escape his old life and start a new one in Shinnoh, eventually, Joseph named the Ralts Elise. Just before departing, the Ralts evolved into a Kirlia and they set out to Sunnyshore city, Shinnoh.

On the way, Joseph meets a friend from the military named Erin Lockheart, who now lives in Veilstone city. She accompanied by another named Mari, her friend. When they arrived, Joseph discovered Mari had a sister named Marley and they grouped up and eventually met Cynthia, who was waiting for a friend of Joseph's that passed away in the war, named Angela. He decided to keep it to himself, despite Elise's concern. Cynthia was kind and allowed the group to stay at her resort on the beach for a little while. It was here where Joseph came to face a strong trainer from Team Galactic, codename Venus. Despite his cold exterior he displayed, his heart had good intentions. First; Cynthia fought Venus. Venus had a Luxray that lost to Cynthia's Garchomp, Venus proceeded to yell at it, scream at it and Cynthia intervened and trusted Joseph with the Luxray, a girl. In the end, as a huge shock to everyone, Cynthia lost to Venus' trusted Froslass. Before the fight, Cynthia got reckless and dragged Joseph's Pokémon into the balance, as Venus wanted the shiny Pokémon. Cynthia was shocked and mortified that she had just caused someone to lose their Pokémon.

Again, showing his softer side, never intended to take the Kirlia. He offered a "fight for freedom" where Elise would fight one if his Pokémon and if he won. He told Joseph if he won this time, Elise is his, if Joseph won, he would leave. Full of uncertainty, Joseph agrees and faces Venus' Gallade. The Gallade learns of Elise's situation and allows her to win, at the same time making a scene with Venus, as they planned to do before. Gallade gets taken in by Marley and Venus disappears back to the headquarters. While there, he gets in a lot of trouble with Cyrus and is told of his plans to destroy this world to create a new one. Enraged, Venus tells his son, Kevin, to take his Froslass and run. Kevin does as he is told when Venus sets the Team Galactic HQ ablaze. He narrowly escapes Cyrus' Pokémon and alerts the police about future plans and plots to attack various land marks. These included: Celestic town, Eterna City, and secretly, the three lakes of Shinnoh. Still furious at Venus' betrayal, Cyrus sends Mars out to hunt him down and bring him back.

Kevin ran with Froslass through the woods to they couldn't be followed. The Froslass was intelligent and hid Kevin from the police, who at the time were searching for him. In hiding they meet another trainer, Jasmine, who is native to the Unova region and offers to take Kevin under her wing. The two travel to Celestic town where Jasmine's Hydreigon goes on a wild rampage, knocking out both trainer's Pokémon. This caused Cynthia to step in, who had come here in prevention of a future attack, to use her Garchomp to KO the rampaging dragon. Kevin soon learns that Jasmine and Cynthia are close friends. There were police officers needing an escort through Mt. Coronet and Jasmine, concealing Kevin's real identity, agrees to help them and leads them through Mt. Coronet.

At this time, Joseph had won his first gym badge and was resting at a Pokémon center. Elise had just evolved into a mature, elegant Gardevoir when a shiny Absol broke into the center and confronted Joseph and Elise, appearing to be hostile. In the end, she came to deliver a message that in three days, Elise's and Joseph's dedication to each other would be tested. Joseph took these words seriously and became very paranoid. As he left, he received an Eevee, also shiny, that claims to have saved Elise's life that night Joseph found her in Regalia. Grateful to the Eevee, Joseph offered to take him with, which Eevee wanted and became Joseph's third Pokémon.

Later in Eterna forest, Joseph had a nightmare that caused Elise to go off into the woods alone and meditate on something bothering her… She loved Joseph and could feel he felt that same way too, but he was just being quiet about it. Eventually, the Absol comes back and reveals she is friends with a Cresselia, a legendary Pokémon. She also revealed that her real name was Luna, and she gave Elise advice on her situation. She leaves, and shortly after, Joseph joins her and they talk about each other's problems and feelings. It is here that Elise finally tell Joseph about her feelings toward him. Joseph does as well, but Elise concludes it felt forced, rushed, an on-the-spot choice that she felt she pressured him into. Joseph has not confirmed this, but agrees that they should wait until things calm down to discuss about such fragile matters.

While this is happening, Venus comes across a group of Pokémon trainers that are seeking to turn him into the police for a reward. It ends in a long mid-air fight where Venus knocks the trainer off of her Salamence. Venus, again showing who he really is, dives and saves the girl from death and eventually heals and releases her and her friends from a barrier prison, made by his Espeon. The kids yell horrible things at him and scream at him, but he just shakes it off and eventually, after he leaves, convinces that he means good and the girl he saved, named Caitlyn tells the group how she feels and they reject her for it. They say that she is just going to have to find out herself and let herself get into trouble. Caitlyn leaves to search for Venus- who was originally going to ask her to defend one of the lakes that Team Galactic planned to assault.

Shortly after, Elise and Joseph are torn apart by an elaborate plan by Mars to lure Venus into the open, since she knows that Joseph and Venus have met somewhere. Joseph and Elise find two injured Pokémon in a clearing in the forest, one a Vulpix, and Absol, more specifically, Luna. Mars had poisoned them to lure them into an ambush. Elise and Joseph both knew something was off, but before Joseph could react, he was put to sleep by a Bronzong. Elise then makes a desperate stand, releasing both Luxray and Eevee against the mob of Pokémon and grunts. The three stood no chance and were easily defeated from the vast number of Pokémon. By the time Joseph came to, Luna and the Vulpix were the only two with him. He raced back to Eterna just in time to grab into the chopper and disable it before falling, only to have Kevin's Froslass catch him. While Jasmine and Kevin talked to Joseph, Joseph did not stay long or give any details about himself. Joseph had guessed they were heading north toward Snowpoint city, but the path normally trainers would take collapsed, and the only two ways to get there: Flying and water, even so you still needed to survive the cold. Angered and wanting revenge and his three Pokémon back, he has Cresselia teleport him back to Regalia, where he acquires a very durable tank to survive and search for them.

Eventually he makes it to the snow-cursed land immediately finds life. Little did he know the damage he did to the helicopter would eventually cause it to crash. Elise and the others find a cave and Elise almost dies because of the cold. It is only because Eevee got lucky and found a hidden Fire Stone in the bag, causing him to evolve into a Flareon, thus saving Elise with fire. Joseph is suspicious of the life he found and goes out to investigate. He finds out it is Mars, alone in the cold. Enraged with her motives, at gunpoint, Joseph forces the information on where they crashed and how long ago. Joseph wanted to kill Mars, but she was just a girl… and he never could harm them-at least to the point of death. Instead, to get his rage out, he shoots her leg and heals it, bringing her with saying; "Death is too good for you." Soon she warms up to Joseph and he does to her as well. Joseph, sensing the good in Mars, asks about her past, why she joined the organization in the first place. Joseph accepts her almost fully when she reveals that Saturn and Jupiter forced her to join under threat of death. With this said, Joseph succeeded in digging out the good in Mars and invites her to join him on his journeys and travels, and she accepts.

Meanwhile, Flareon discovered a hidden passage in the cave and almost gets himself killed when he awakens Regice. It is only because Elise and Luxray found him and together defeated the brute. Flareon was injured at the end of the battle but healed quickly because Elise had found a first aid book she was reading. She also found another book in the passage, presumably from another explorer who passed away trying to find something. Elise does research on the surrounding walls and eventually finds three captive Pokémon. These included: A Lopunny, a Glaceon, and a Milotic.

Soon after, Joseph finds the cave and sets out to find them. Traveling with a psychic Pokémon sometimes makes humans develop psychic powers themselves. Joseph, in this case, could sense the life force of Elise. He followed the passage and detected six forces, three unknown. Fearing these were humans, Joseph uses his militaristic training to storm the area. Eventually, he realizes that those are Pokémon, not humans and stops his assault. He is reunited with Elise and his team and is interrupted by Mars, who claims someone was looking for him. Being curious, Joseph tells everyone to stay put.

He goes and finds a man in a coat looking for a "business deal" with Elise. Through telepathy, Joseph maintains contact with Elise and informs her of the conversation. Joseph figured out that this man was really an underground black market person that sells Pokémon for horrible duties. He knows this because he is only interested in a Gardevoir. Joseph, wanting to bait him in, asks Elise to play along. She reluctantly agrees and lets the man look her over. He plays right into Joseph's hands and takes him and all his Pokémon and Mars- thinking she was a business partner, to his warehouse. As Joseph anticipated, it was full of abused, neglected, and hurt Pokémon. One in particular, another Gardevoir, made the man angry and he said he was going to punish her. Joseph knew exactly what he meant and went along with it. Elise finally realizes what his intentions are and agrees with his plan. The man throws the Gardevoir, probably to rape it as his form of "punishment" but before he could lay a hand on her, Joseph shoves him against the wall and kills him. He freed all of the Pokémon while Mars went to go find police.

The Gardevoir had a family. A Gallade and a Ralts, all together in captivity, were together. It was not until Joseph asked who her trainer was and she said Marley, and the Gallade belonged to Mari. At this point, Marley and Mari both left a long time ago to go to the Graceadia Garden for Shaymin. Shocked at these words, Joseph takes in on himself to return the stolen Pokémon to their rightful trainers. First, they contacted Marley and Mari and arranged to meet at Valor Lakefront in two days. It was a nice day at least… but the duo was running later than Joseph and Elise had planned. So why not enjoy each other's company on the beach?


	2. Reunion and Regret

(Normal POV)

"Joseph, are you sure you told them here?" The Gardevoir said.

"I'm certain I did. Sure is taking them a while. Where did they say they were? Like victory road or something?"The boy said checking his watch. "We said three in the afternoon on the beach, it is now four." Joseph said.

"Do they even know what you have for them?" The Pokémon asked turning her gaze to Joseph.

"No, I never told them. Elise, I had intended it be a surprise, but now I'm thinking we should've told them." Joseph laughed at thinking that would've made things faster. "Maybe then we would see them by now." Then Elise taught of something that worried her; Mars. Mars was the one that kidnapped them originally but eventually joined Joseph. Elise still did not trust her and was always alert when she was out of sight.

"Where is Mars? She could be-…" Joseph stopped her before Mars heard and pointed to the left.

"She is just over there bonding with her Pokémon. That so dangerous?" Elise never had an alert personality before Mars put them in serious danger. Now all she worries about are strangers and the unknown.

"On that note, I need to have a talk with you about her, and your psychic powers." When traveling with a psychic Pokémon, humans can sometimes gain psychic abilities from the psychic Pokémon. Recently, Joseph demonstrated a huge psychic milestone, generating a psychic shockwave. Elise had no idea in how short of a time they were together just how much his power developed. She also clearly has a huge mistrust toward Mars, being a former Galactic officer.

"I knew this was coming." Joseph said looking into the distance. "So…?" Elise sighed and scanned the area to see nobody was near us.

"First about your powers, how much have you been using them?" Elise looked slowly at her hands. "I haven't even showed you how to use your powers. How are you using them in such a manner?"

"I used it in defense of another. If I willed to use it without someone else in the balance, I would probably fail." Elise didn't believe this. She jumped up and started charging a dark pulse. Joseph was surprised and jumped back from Elise. Elise released the dark beam and Joseph focused and again made a shockwave from his hand, cutting the attack in two. Elise then sat down again, motioning for him to come back.

"My point exactly." She said.

"Just what were you thinking?!" Joseph said alarmed.

"You can use your powers freely, but at a small limit. What I just did proves that you have free will over your powers." She looked up. "I can show you how to better refine those powers so they are stable. Ever get a massive headache after doing something like that?"

"All the time, just like now."

"Uh-huh, with training, those will go away." Elise tensed up. "Now onto a different matter. Mars."

"What about her?" Joseph could feel the anger building up in Elise.

"I just want you to think for a minute. Think of what she did to me, to you, to all of us. Just think about that for a second or two." Joseph thought and remembered how she was the reason they got kidnapped, the reason Elise almost died, yeah, those were serious.

"Now think about this." Joseph said. Elise gave him a glare. "She is also the reason you found three lost Pokémon. She is also the reason I found you because she remembers when you guys apparently crashed. She is also the reason the police were able to find us at the warehouse of Pokémon." Joseph paused and the two had a stare-off for about thirty seconds. "But there is more to your issue." He guessed maybe she had t be mad at him for something.

"There is more! She is part of the organization that wants to destroy the world. SHE IS THE PERSON I HATE MOST! THEN YOU TELL ME SHE IS JOINING US, ALWAYS WITH US AND WATCHING OUR EVERY MOVE?"

"Elise calm down!"

"No, you know I'm right." She stood up. "I can't believe of all the people who could see justice you didn't deliver it on her. SHE COULD'VE KILLED ME! Then you go and accept her as one of our own." She crossed her arms, now they got Mars' attention, but luckily, she did not approach them. "I'm going for a walk, I'll see you later." She stormed away a little bit before teleporting away. Joseph was shocked, but kept a cool head. Mars now approached with her Lopunny.

"You okay Joseph? What was that all about?" Mars asked brushing the sand off her clothes, still the same from Team Galactic. Joseph sighed, wondering how to break it to her in a delicate way. He will never tell her to leave, but how will she take Elise hating her so much? Joseph pulled out his Pokéball and released Luna, a shiny Absol.

"Luna, go keep Elise company please."

"Of course." Luna said. With his psychics, Joseph can understand Pokémon as if they were people. The Absol waved at Mars before running off.

"Did you say something that set her off?" Mars asked.

"Err… Yeah, in a way. She mentioned you and… well… she still hates you for uh, taking her from me in Eterna." Mars looked down.

"Not the first time this has happened…" She said.

"I'm hoping it's just a phase. She was acting weird throughout the entire conversation. You saw her attack me."

"Yeah I did… and Gardevoirs when they develop feelings of any kind are hard to change. If I approach her, she might kill me." Joseph put his hand on Mars' shoulder.

"Won't happen, I'll make sure of it." Then I heard sand shifting next to me. It was Marley, same looks, same dress and all. "Hey, long time no see Marley… wait… where is Mari?"

"She um… got distracted… she told me go… she will catch up with me… I should ask what you are doing… with Mars?" She said holding a pokeball.

"Relax, she is a new person now. Believe me Marley… so much has changed since you left us last time. Only about a week and too much has happened."

"Explain…"

"Well first, Elise is now a Gardevoir. I got my one badge, and now have a full combat party of six. Elise, Star- a Vulpix, Luna- an Absol, Flareon, Luxray, and Glaceon."

"How did you… find those so quickly?" She asked.

"Well… I'll give you the short version. In Eterna, Mars here kidnapped all my Pokémon and took them north. They crashed and I found her and she was clearly remorseful about what she did. On a short leash, I let her come with me. Eventually I find her in a cave with three other Pokémon, a Milotic, this Lopunny you see here, and my Glaceon. Mars has the Milotic."

"So that Gardevoir… crying behind a tree… on route 222 is Elise?"

"Crying?" Joseph felt like shit now.

"…yeah, I wanted to… comfort her, but… she vanished. What happened?"

"She doesn't like that I forgave Mars for her actions. She believes I was too nice to her, and should've shown justice."

"I see… so why did you need to see me…?" I pulled out a pink pokeball. I released the Pokémon inside and a Gardevoir came out. "…huh?"

"This Gardevoir was once yours." I said.

"We raided a compound and freed captive Pokémon. This one calms to once belong to Marley, that is you." Mars said.

"…I never owned a Gardevoir."

"Because I was taken from you as a Ralts. I still remember how you cared for me, so I sought you out. Please remember!" The Gardevoir said vocally and telepathically to make sure Marley understood. Slowly she turned her head sideways then gasped.

"…Ariana? You are still… alive?" Marley asked quietly. Then Ariana hugged Marley tightly.

(Elise's POV)

I watched from a high cliff overlooking the beach. I sensed each one of their emotions to see if I could reinforce my feelings. I started with the Gardevoir and Marley: Relief, happiness, worry, longing. It touched me to feel these radiating from my old friends. Next; Joseph: Accomplishment, happiness, regret… sorrow, concern, longing… and fear… of the future… and love. I had a mixed feeling about all of these. It made me happy to feel his happiness and sense of accomplishment, but the others… in particular fear and regret… honestly, all of them made me uneasy. I could understand the first two, but why does he feel regret… ah ha! Unless he regrets bringing Mars, I knew it. I still hate her. She never even talked to me since we met each other, she never even apologized.

"He regrets bringing Mars, I knew it!" I said aloud.

"I don't think so Elise." I turned to see Luna standing there. "I think he regrets letting you think for yourself too much."

"What? You don't even know what I'm talking about."

"Listen to yourself!" She barked. I was shaken that Luna would talk like this. "This isn't the Elise I knew. I wasn't there, but I heard all of it. You won't even listen to reason anymore!"

"You have no idea, like I said." Defending my arguments. "On top of that he feels sad and concerned."

"Do I really need to explain those to you? Have you lost who you are so much that you can't read his feelings anymore?"

"Of course I can-…"

"You know what, don't talk. Sad because he thinks he really did something to set you off. On top of that, you leave him all alone, without anyone to watch you. Think of him just for a second! He is concerned because back in Eterna City when you got taken, he took all the blame. He would level a city just for you to be safe. If he never found Mars, you could still be out there. He feels this way because he never wants to lose you ever again, I myself marvel at his ability to keep his cool, bit you are not making it easier." I was shocked to say the least.

"Am I that… different?"

"Yes, it is clear as day. I'm supposed to return with you, but I'll wait until you walk out on the route." She left and I was alone again. I turned back to the group below.

_I… have changed… and it was my fear. It was my evolution. I knew both Joseph and I would hate this choice! I should've stayed a Kirlia._

_Oh now how did I find you here? _A mature feminine voice whispered. I looked behind me and a beautiful Cresselia was floating there.

"A… Cresselia? Why have you come to me?"

"I know Joseph, and I heard your talk with Luna." So this Cresselia must be the one Luna always referred to. "There is nothing wrong with you, I told Luna that. As for Mars, she is a good girl at heart, and she has been longing to talk to you… but is fearful for your reaction."

"Hmm…" I thought about giving it a shot, but a side of me still hated her.

"Expel that hatred from your heart… It will only hurt you… I can also feel something else on your mind. That human down there, he loves you… I can feel it. I ask you now; do you love him as well?" I thought and stopped myself from thinking. I shouldn't need to think about something like that!

"Yes." I said. She probably read my mind and smirked a little before moving next to me.

"I know about the time you guys told each other in the forest. It felt rushed, no?"

"Yeah, I think I forced it on him. I wonder if he even meant what he said… but from what you said he…" the Cresselia nodded. "…actually does…"

"Maybe you should go have that talk again. Perhaps it will show you once more who you really are." She turned her head my direction. "Because you two will be burdened with a massive task. Blessings of the moon be with you." I absorbed all the words just spoken to me. She was right, now things have calmed down, maybe he will say what is in his heart now. I nodded at my thoughts and met Luna at the route. I followed her back to the beach. I was thinking what to say to Joseph to apologize for my behavior, but couldn't find words.

(Joseph's POV)

My attention shifted to the two figures approaching us. Luna and Elise were making their way over and right away I knew that something was off. I mean, I already knew that she was mad, but know she seemed… different than before. Like she had seen a ghost (it's not like I could tell, half her skin being white, so she really can't be pale)

"You okay Elise?" I asked meeting her.

"Uh, yeah I'm fine. Listen, sorry about earlier, I'm just acting too selfish."

"Oh I don't care about that. I only care about your opinion, and you gave it to me. Although I don't agree with it, I respect it."

_Thank you._

_Of course, but perhaps you two could talk? I mean, she will be with us for a long time. I would hate burdening you and her both with all this tension in the air._

_I spoke to someone up there. I need to have another talk with you, and I guess I can try to work things out… But I'll do it alone._

That scared me more than her bad side I saw earlier.

_Do not harm her Elise. I will be watching._

_How?_

_I have ways, just don't kill her ok?_

_I can't promise, but I'll give my effort._

_Good, so, show Marley the new Elise._

"Long time no see Marley. Are you okay after that run-in with Venus?"

"Yeah… I'm fine, thanks. You look nice."

"Oh, thank you. Where is Mari?" Then someone jumped off the cliff Elise was standing on and landed next to us.

"Here I am! Whoa… Elise you're a Gardevoir now!" Mari had a slightly different outfit than before. Instead of her looking like a copy of Marley, she had a distinct purple dress, military boots similar to mine, and knee level leggings.

"Mari, nice to finally see you."Elise said.

"Capable of human speech, that is so cool!" She said.

"I really is good to see you two again." I said with a smile.

"Yeah you too! So what's up?" I pointed to Marley's Gardevoir. "You guys traded?"

"Joseph… she is too young… Ariana was taken before she was born…" Marley pointed out.

"Oh right… I remember part of it. Mom and dad said we both lost Pokémon, but I was too young to even remember."

"Well here he is." I pulled out a blue and white Great ball and released a Gallade. "This one belonged to you." Mari approached the Gallade with confusion.

"Were did you find him?"

"We found a warehouse full of captive Pokémon. That Gardevoir and Gallade said they belonged to Marley and Mari, their words. They also had a Ralts with them." Elise explained. Mari was still trying to recall.

"I… don't know who you are… but I am willing to find out." Mari said as I tossed her the ball. They both returned the Pokémon. "Thanks Joseph."

"Of course."

(Venus' POV)

I stood on a cliff next to Kevin and his friend, Jasmine. In the past week we met just after Joseph left to go get Elise… and now I see Mars with him as well. The girl always had a soft side that she always masked. I am curious as to how she is with Joseph… at least she is still alive, so that improves my chances of survival. Jasmine and I have been training Kevin's battle skills and he is really improving.

"So, should we go down there?" Jasmine asked.

"Mars is with Joseph." Kevin said pointing. I needed them to get to Snowpoint city because if I am correct, Team Galactic will go after the three lake Pokémon in a day.

"I told you of our situation." I turned to the duo behind me. "In a day, they will get the lake Pokémon, we can't let that happen."

"What can we do? We only have a day." Jasmine said.

"I will go down there and hopefully get some help. If not, it's only us three."

"Four." I heard a familiar voice from the sky. I wasn't sure, but now I'm certain. It's the girl with the Salamence… Caitlyn was her name. "I finally found you. I wish to know more about these Pokémon."

"Wait here, all of you." I said releasing my Espeon.

"Espe?" the green Pokémon said.

"Teleport us down there."

(Normal POV)

Venus made his appearance obvious and made the group turn around. You could almost feel Joseph's rage ignite. Elise felt it and stepped back, bracing for an explosion. Everyone just watched for Joseph's reaction; and to everyone's surprise Joseph calmed down.

"You have a reason to come near Elise or me?" He asked firmly. "Or have you come for an ass ki-…" He stopped himself and regained his composure.

"I do have a reason to be here. It is a large thing to ask. Listen, I know I put you two through hell and back." He pointed and Elise and Joseph. "But believe me, I did not want that to happen, I had no idea Mars would interfere. My plan was to meet you and show my colors to you, but that had to wait until now."

"You really expect someone like me to believe a criminal like yourself?" Joseph said.

"If you will not take me word for it, ask your Luxray. Marley, ask your Gallade, listen to him then. Go on, ask them." Joseph looked at Marley who stood silently. Joseph pulled out a pokeball and a Luxray appeared. Joseph crouched down to her level and everyone watched as she explained a long history. Joseph closed his eyes with a nod.

"Thank you." He said returning the Pokémon back. He stood up and glared at Venus' direction. "Seems your background checks out. Why are you here?" He looked up the cliff behind him. "And they are?" He asked pointing at the three people.

"One is my son, Kevin, the other his friend, Jasmine. Then one of them is a stranger, Caitlyn." Venus motioned for them to come down. The seven people were grouped up and together, until it started to rain.

"This way guys, I have a room." Joseph said taking off his jacket and handing to Elise. "Stay dry." Elise shyly took the coat and followed the group. The room was wide, enough to fit six Pokémon, or in this case people. They all sat down and Venus got up and walked to the center while Jasmine dried her hair, Elise shook off water and Kevin shivered at the sudden cold.

"Okay, everyone listen now and listen good." He said getting everyone's attention. He waited until everyone was looking at him and listening. "Team Galactic is about to make their move on the three lake Pokémon." He paused as they looked at each other. "And they are moving in tomorrow."

"What?!" Joseph said in shock. Elise looked at the clock, clearly alarmed.

"It is 5:00 p.m right now! Tomorrow is in about seven hours!"

"And on top of that, we need to spread out to the three lakes. Valor, Verity, and Acuity as you know are the lakes that I speak of."

"So why is it important to us?" Joseph asked. Jasmine and Kevin shifted un easily then Mars stood up.

"Because if he succeeds…"

"The world as we know will end." Venus said looking at the former commander.

"End?" Elise asked. "How can Cyrus do that? He is just one man; there is no way he could do it alone." Mars looked up.

"You need to remember two things. One he has people just like who we used to be. Two, with those Pokémon…"

"He could use the two legendary Pokémon, Dialga and Palkia and make a world on top of this one, destroying this one utterly." Joseph stood and a paced around the room, trying to make sense of what he just heard.

"I still… hmm… how can he do that? It's physically impossible… Oh wait." He paused. "If you warp time and space, there are no physics."

"Hmm, I think I get it. Think of taking a small tree, and then make a larger tree with larger roots next to it. Eventually, the big one will kill off the smaller one because of its roots… and the small one will cease to exist." Nervous silence filled the air after she finished.

"…she is right. That is pretty much what will happen. But we can't let it get that far! That is why we all need to pair up and spread out to the three lakes. Hopefully if we can stop them, the Pokémon will not be harmed, and his plan would be back to square one." Venus said, then he looked down and pointed at Mars and Elise. "I know we have differences and some of us got off on the wrong foot. But this is bigger than us. Smaller conflicts mean nothing if the world ends. I mean in general, Mars and Elise." The two looked at each other for a long time before Mars spoke.

"Understand I never wanted to do that… I'm sorry… I'm sorry for almost killing you all. That was never my goal… unfortunately it took that to see who I want to be… I'm not asking your forgiveness, but I understand why you would still hate me." She stopped and again, you could feel the silence like a wave on the beach.

Elise sighed. "Look it's me being the unreasonable one. Not to just you but Joseph as well." She covered her face with her hand and sighed. "Deep down, I was able to sense your regret from your actions in the helicopter, but I was blinded at first by fear, then by rage, then by sorrow." She paused and extended her hand to Mars. "No hard feelings… because I will know!" She joked.

"Alright, no hard feelings." Mars said with a smile.

"Good now onto business. Look here." Venus laid a map on the center table. Valor is right here and has a wide open sky, making flying Pokémon able to spot anything. Caitlyn nodded.

"My Salamence could fly around." Venus nodded.

"And I have a Staraptor and a Milotic for the water. Mismagius can watch dense areas of the surrounding trees."

(Joseph's POV)

"So you two will go there. Now what about Verity?" Marley and Mari raised their hands.

"Marley knows that area like the back of her hand, and I do too!" Mari said with a smile. I sighed.

"That means Kevin and I get Acuity."

"Joseph, wait. As much as I want you to have help, Kevin is still inexperienced… I want him to remain here."

"What? No fair! I need to help in some way!" Kevin protested.

"Kevin, this is a serious matter, you can help Caitlyn and I at Valor." I thought about my team… Elise- Gardevoir, Star- Vulpix, Luxray, Luna- Absol, Flareon, and Glaceon. I need another ice type to be safe.

"My team needs another ice type to be safe. I only have a Glaceon."

"I can give you Froslass. She is impossible to spot in a snowy area." Kevin said. I nodded.

"Here, take Vulpix." We exchanged pokeballs. I released Froslass to make sure she knew what was up. She appeared in a white light and opened her yellow eyes."Hey long time no see. Thanks by the way for stopping my fall."

"Of course… I heard the discussion. I am with you for now?" I nodded.

"Yeah. We are heading north again." Then I thought about how cold it is. "We can't go up there without coats. Ours are just rain coats." Venus opened the closet and tossed me a very fluffy coat.

"I recommend putting Elise in her pokeball." I looked back at Elise who shook her head signaling a no.

"I can't do that, any other coats?" Venus rummaged some more and found another white coat, same as mine. "Ah good, thanks." I put mine on and saw Elise was confused at what to do with it. "Elise put your arm through one sleeve. She tried and eventually got the coat on and was amazed.

"This is so nice! But why do I need this?"

"Elise, you are just a vulnerable as a human. Remember what happened last time? Not again. You are, if not the closest, pretty close to a human as a Pokémon gets." I could tell she was taken back on this, and wondered what that meant.

"Oh… okay." I felt bad, but other things had to be done first.

"So how do we get up there so quickly?" I asked. Venus released an Espeon that stood proud aside her trainer.

"She will teleport you right to the lake." Mars who was still looking at the map spoke up.

"We have a free person, I can go with Joseph." Venus forgot and nodded to her idea.

"Fair enough. Just let me know when you are ready. Everyone, you all got prep work to do, get to it!" Venus reminded me of my squad's sergeant. Issuing orders and fighting alongside his men. I got up and went into the other room and closed the door. Elise followed me in and was quiet. I dumped out bag out and organized it to see if we need anything.

"Let's see… Good on water… food… clothes… maybe I should change now… and… we should be good. Oh wait, I hope I didn't forget these… good! I have 'em." I was looking for a pair of ice picks, since it will be snowy.

"Hey Joseph, we are all going to make a run into town for supplies, need anything?" Mari yelled from outside the door. I thought about the environment… Blizzards, horrible wind, I need goggles… I'm starting to think I should get gear for Elise. I opened the door.

"Yeah, two pairs of ski goggles… and two pairs of heavy gloves." Mari gave thumbs up.

"Got it, stay here until we get back."

"Got it." I went back into the room and smelled something… odd. It was sweet, then salty, and then it burned my nose. "You smell anything?" Elise jumped up and shook her head, she must've been spacing out.

"Listen, I'm going to get in the shower."

"Wait, you know how to do that?"

"… I've uhh… watched you a few times…" I blushed and turned away.

"Yeah… okkkaay… Well then enjoy." I said watching her leave the room. "…you sure are acting strange…" I went about my business.

(Elise's POV)

I wasn't really going to take a shower. I knew how, but I just did last night… I just needed some alone time without anyone around… The truth is… I know what that smell was… I just realized it is my first week as a Gardevoir… and now… heat has hit me like a flaming brick. I needed to run and get away from Joseph ASAP before I did something I would regret… Or would I? Would he? What am I thinking, he can't do that, he is human, I am Pokémon. Then the words of Arceus echoed in my head.

_… it will make your hormonal. _

"This isn't right! Why me, why now?!" I asked myself silently. I started to panic and lose my cool. I started to have an anxiety attack and I found myself turning on the shower to cause noise so I could shift through the medicine cabinet. I was looking for something, but I didn't know what. I found some random medicine and just swallowed two pills, not even knowing what it was. I felt light-headed and felt my legs slowly giving out. Then I grabbed the sink, swaying back and forth before collapsing, and I felt really warm afterward.

(30 minutes later- Joseph's pov)

I was trying to modify my boots with some military tech I found. You know how ice climber boots are? Well I had the spikes that you could add on to the front… but I couldn't figure out how to get them to stay still.

"…maybe if I use heavier glue?" I took some heavy rubber glue and stuck it on one boot. I smiled when I pulled on the spikes and it stayed on. I looked up at the clock and it took me thirty minutes. I stretched after sitting for a long time. "Probably should see if Elise is done yet, I want to shower too." I gathered my clothes and set it on the sink outside the bathroom.

"Elise! You done yet?" I yelled. I got no response.

_That is weird… Can she hear me? _I thought.

_Elise! Hello?_

Something isn't right here; she would at least talk through telepathically. I turned the doorknob and was mystified to find it unlocked. I slowly opened the door.

"Elise, I'm coming in- WHAT THE FUCK?!" I was greeted to find Elise on the floor, unconscious, and a bottle of pills on the sink. "Holy fucking shit, Elise!" I picked her up and carried her out to the bedroom. I checked for a pulse and found one… what the hell did she do?! I went to the bathroom and checked the bottle. All it did was put you to sleep, but an overdose will make you faint, that makes sense. I sat next to Elise and felt her forehead, no fever… I was worried about her condition… she was acting so odd, like she was hiding something from me, or something was clawing at her head. The way she exploded on the beach, the way she reacted at a simple phrase earlier, something is for sure going on.

(10 minutes later)

At this point I was just holding her hand while sitting beside her. I felt her hand tighten around mine and I instantly looked at her face, watching her eyes slowly open. Her breathing was erratic and her face was flushed red.

"…Joseph!"

"Calm down sweetie, you just passed out, I got you."

"…I can't… stop it!"

"Stop what? What is wrong!?" She shut her eyes tightly. "Just stay here, I'll get help." Then she held me in place. She whispered.

"…heat…"

"Oh shit."

"Only you can help me now, come on…" She pulled me over her and she started kissing me. I'm not going to lie, I was tempted, but then… an image of the dead Gardevoir flashed in front of me. I pushed her face away and jumped off the bed, breathing heavily from the horror I just remembered. Suddenly I felt emotion from Elise, it was like someone stabbed my brain. I felt greed, lust, longing coming from her. It was when she tried pulling me with a psychic force that I felt something radiate from me, at the same time, the pain in my head made me scream. I opened my eyes to see blue sparks fly from the lights in the room and Elise standing up again, greed replaced by fear. Then I heard ringing in my ear and I fell forward.

(Elise's POV)

"OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" I screamed picking up Joseph and laying him on the bed. I started sobbing and blaming myself, but with reason. I triggered another psychic burst on him, and he resisted… and then his powers got unleashed again. "I'M SO SORRY!" Then he started to stir and he woke up.

"AHHH!" He screamed holding his head. I held him close to comfort him. He eventually stopped holding his head and looked at me, seeing the fear in my eyes, he started to feel guilt, and sorrow.

"I'm sorr-…"

"No, I am sorry. I never should've tried that!" I paused again at a heat surge. It made my body shake and Joseph noticed.

"What does this 'heat' do Elise? What made you do what you did just now. I'm not mad… I'm just worried." I resisted the surge and regained my composure.

"It is a cycle in a Pokémon's life that takes place around each month… and during that time, we usually mate with our species… but something drew me right to you. I'm sorry." He smiled and put his hand on my face.

"I'll be honest… I will be fine with that if you do it out of affection, not my biological cycle that drive you, no offense, insane!" Then he paused. "I saw something that caused me to back away. In all honesty… I was going to do it, but… something terrified me so much."

"Oh I see… Well? What was it? What is so horrible that it made you fearful of me?" I recalled the image and shuttered… the blood, the smell, and worst of all… the dead Gardevoir I could not save. I recalled that mission. My unit was deployed into a city to extract and survivors of an earthquake… I found a severely wounded Gardevoir, and in spite of my effort, could not save her life. To this day, I never have forgotten, mainly because she knew about my egg, and she _could've been _Elise's mother.

"It was the Gardevoir I told you about. The one in the ruined city, remember my dream?"

"Wow… that is so sad. But why does that scare you?" I thought on how to respond. With anger, sorrow, or what?

"If you saw what I saw that day, you could understand. I saw just how much humans can harm Pokémon. How peaceful Pokémon are, and how ravage humans are on innocent creatures. It is irrelevant if it was direct harm, but it's all the same. Pokémon always get caught in the crossfire and they are the ones who pay the worst." Then I looked right into her eyes, hoping she would understand. "I can do something of that magnitude to you without fearing the worst. What if it hurts you? What if something happens to me, or to you?! Do not hear me wrong, I love you to that point, even if I don't express it. I'm very quiet about these things. But for now, we can't do that just yet. Maybe later down the road, near future? Maybe sooner, but for now, I can't lay my hands on you… can you please understand?" I held her hands in mine. She smiled and nodded.

"That is why I love you… Rather than go for your satisfaction, you take into consideration the feelings of others and those around you… thanks. And one more thing… you can sense emotions now can't you?" I nodded. "Can you feel mine right now?" She smiled and closed her eyes… man when she does that, it is so beautiful. I tried sensing her emotions… Then I had a warm feeling and Elise felt it too. She looked up at me with a smile.

"You feel that?"

"Yeah… it feels nice." I said.

"Its love Joseph… Imagine feeling this forever… and now you can. I can teach you all about how to use your powers when we get to the lake. You need to rest." I agreed… but what about Elise's heat?

"First I need to tell you a simple way we humans relieve this same problem."

"Without mating?"

"Mm-hm."

(long detailed explanation later- about 7 minutes)

"…annndd that is why we do that." Joseph finished explaining. "I can't tell you more or how to do it because I'm a male. You are different in both gender and race. It is un-ethical, but some argue, necessary to keep themselves in check." Elise just sat there with wide eyes.

"Ohh kaayy… I need some water, thanks for the… uh… info."

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"I know it sounds… vulgar… but it will keep you under control. I can't help you, because technically that would still count as… you know. But if you have anything on your mind, let me know."

"I will, thank you so much Joseph." She said hugging me, I returned the hug.

"…remember, sometime later…" I whispered. She kissed my cheek and left the room. I sighed in relief that all that just happened didn't go sideways. I was still taken off guard by her assault, but I would worry about that later. I mean, it's not like I haven't thought about it… I mean, she is the closest to a girlfriend I'll ever get, since most girls are deceptive toward me. Elise… she was as honest and caring as I've ever seen. Other than… Angela...


	3. Departure and a Hidden Life

**Waring: Mildly suggestive content ahead.**

**Btw be sure to leave a review, just no flaming. I really don't need to tell why, its common sense. Enjoy Ch. 2!**

(An hour later, Joseph's POV)

I left Elise in the next room alone; telling her what happens is up to her.

_"So I will leave you to decide what to do next. It is up to you, and I won't disturb you until they get back."_

"…just as long as she doesn't hurt herself, I'm fine with what happens." Then I heard a high pitched whine from her room. "…I should talk a walk for a bit." I left the room and walked down to the beach. The sun was setting and I just took a minute to enjoy the beauty. I felt I shouldn't be the only one seeing this, so I let out Glaceon and Flareon. They stretched and shook their bodies before marveling at the sight. They looked at me and I just pointed to the sky at the sunset.

"…just stop and stare…"

"Wow…" Flareon whispered under his breath with wide eyes. Glaceon had an emotionless face and titled her head sideways.

"…what is that?"

"That is called a sunset. It is when the sun starts to disappear and day turns to night. You've never seen one?" I asked.

"There is never any sunshine in the north…"

"Oh right…"

"Well happy first sunset!" Flareon said playfully. Then I thought and closed my eyes.

_Can you even picture a world without these little things? No sunset, no day, night, nothing… just something un-imaginable. Clearly, Cyrus takes that for granted and hates all the horrible things about this world, but never actually looked at anything happy. _Then I looked up at the red sky and came to a disturbing conclusion. _No military power in the world can fight time and space… Venus was right to get help… If they get these three Pokémon, we are all going to burn with this world… I can't let that happen._

When the sun finally set, we all headed back to the room. Elise was sitting on the couch, organizing items into groups, and she looked so much better. I was followed by the group, all of them carrying bags for stuff for the defense.

"That took longer then I wanted, we need to pack up and go now!" Venus said. We took what we needed from the bags. I took goggles, gloves, a tent, and some hand warmers.

_Elise, you look much better. Feeling okay?_

_Yeah! I feel great, thanks for the advice._

_Mm-hm. You ready for this? _Elise shifted nervously.

_I hope so. I just got a grasp on how important this task is…_

_I know, so did I. All we can do is focus and prevent the worst from happening._

_Right, I'm with you._

We all gathered in the main room and looked each other over. Then Mari spoke.

"This will be the last time we see each other before the hammer falls." She said looking down.

"I worry of the things to come." Caitlyn said.

"While we may fear the worst, Cyrus needs to be stopped." Mars said.

"We aren't doing this for ourselves, but for all of Shinnoh and the rest of the world. Regalia… Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Unova, they all are banking on us. We can't fail." Venus said.

"…our worst enemy is fear…" Marley said holding her wrist with her free hand. Kevin just remained silent and lightly brushed his foot on the carpet.

"I can sometimes see the future… but at times like these, even I cannot be sure of the outcome… It is up to us to make sure the future is bright." Elise said holding out her arm. "We will bring justice to Shinnoh." I thought about any words of wisdom, and I just decided to improvise.

"We can all look back and see mistakes. Be it what you did…" I said looking at Mars. "Or who you were…" I looked at Venus. "There are always mistakes." Then I paused and walking into the middle. "But ladies and gentlemen, that is NOT important now. We are all that stands against Team Galactic's shadow. We can't focus on the small shadows of our past when a much bigger one covers everything we hold dear." I shifted my eyes on Elise who nodded in approval. "Though she may not be certain what the future hold, it is our job now… to change the course of history… and we will do so as one!" I said with energy, and they all nodded. "Everyone put your hand in the circle." They all did and I began an old Regalia military pre-battle speech. "This was an old speech we did before an important battle."

"As we approach the fields, frightened, enraged, saddened. Remember that is not our weapons that win war, one's mental power, force of will, and relying on each other is the great equalizer of war! No matter what happens to us, we will all come out alive!" That fired me up as well as everyone else. We broke up our hands and Venus released his Espeon.

"I'll start teleporting us to our locations, Mari, Marley, you first." They gathered their things and before leaving, Marley gave me a tight hug and pointed at Elise.

"…you two come back… ok?"

"We will Marley, you can count on us." Elise said reassuringly. "You too Mari, you come back un-harmed alright?"

"We will! Good luck!" In an instant, they were gone. Then about five seconds later, he reappeared. We stepped next to him.

"Good luck you three." Caitlyn said. I nodded and waved goodbye. I put my coat on and assisted Elise and Mars in putting on the newer gear. My sight was now tinted darker and in a flash, I felt frost and cold as we landed on snow. I remembered something and quickly gave Venus three radios.

"These are extremely strong radios. Give one to Marley and Mari so we can communicate."

"Good thinking Joseph. I'll do that, now get set up." I agreed and Elise helped me set up the tent while Mars scouted the surrounding terrain.

(Galactic HQ- Normal POV)

Cyrus was looking over a folder with a document inside. He and his top advisors were debating if they should launch "Operation New order" today or postpone it. Initially they were going to begin it tomorrow, but with Venus gone and Mars M.I.A. Cyrus only had himself, Jupiter, and Saturn that would be capable of holding off Venus. The problem was, since Cyrus left, how much has he done to this point to prevent our efforts?

"Venus is all talk and never follows through. He probably left the region in fear already!" one argued.

"You underestimate this man. The man beat all three of our commanders except Cyrus. He is someone to worry about."

"Even so, Cyrus can clearly overpower him toe-to-toe."

"But you forget, in this time he could've received help from people." Cyrus stood up with both Jupiter and Saturn at his side.

"Everyone calm down. You all make good points." He paused and thought of another plan. "Perhaps we do not need to worry about confrontation." This caused people to wonder in the crowd. "Commander Jupiter will explain." She stepped up.

"As you know, there are two lakes that can be accessed easily in the southern region, Valor and Verity. There is one in the north that is hard to reach, so here is our plan. We hire our contact to take Uxie- the Pokémon in the north. Normally the Pokémon should all show up to defend each other, but the three know something is coming for them. So we will focus our efforts on the two lakes on this side, while our contact takes the north." The door opened and a woman in a black coat and a red visor entered the room. "And here she is."

"I got a call saying someone needs Pokémon captured…" She said.

"You did. We need you to get one Pokémon and one Pokémon only. You need to catch Uxie."

"That's a tall order. What is your offer?"

"A blank check." The woman smiled.

"I see… I will get ready to head up there. When should I take it?" The room looked at Cyrus.

"In three days. You can teleport goods I hear?"

"For an added cost…"

"You have a blank check." The woman nodded and walked out of the room. "Pokémon hunter J, failure is not an option." Then Cyrus looked at the room. "Three days, we begin."

(Elise's POV)

It was lightly snowing right now and I was amazed at how the water in the lake was completely liquid. The only thing that bothered me this far was the snow. I didn't have any of those things on Joseph's feet, so I had to levitate myself above the ground, which I don't mind, but I enjoy walking. Well, actually, I was freezing inside. Not even this heavy coat was enough, probably just because my body is very frail and like glass. I knew this because eventually I found myself shivering. Joseph had just finished setting up both of our tents when she sensed something was wrong.

"You look cold Elise." I just kept my arms crossed and remained silent. I felt his glove take my hand and I looked at him. "… your shivering!" He took off his coat and I shook my head, not wanting him to freeze over like I did.

"d-d-don't… i-f-f-fine." I struggled to say. He surrounded me with his coat and led me to the tent.

"I'm used to the cold, I'll be fine. Being in Regalia's northern region, this is like summer." I felt warm inside that he would do something like that for me. He led me into the tent and I sat down. "Just warm up in here and if you need anything, just call me." I felt grateful for his concern and motioned for him to lean is head forward. When he did I quickly gave him a kiss on the lips- for the first time- out of my own will. He pulled his head back and smiled.

"T-thank you…" I said. I felt his emotions and finally, I found love and affection.

"I'll always help you. I'm going to keep watch and let the others warm up to the weather. You can join me when you feel better, okay?" I nodded and winked at him with a smile and he did the same. He looked really hero-like with his outfit. I guess I just need to lay low until I get used to the cold temperatures. I was bored just sitting still so I decided to do some poking around. I found Joseph's bag which he left while he was doing his thing. I hesitated, but eventually I sensed he was a little farther away so I decided to rummage his bag. I didn't need to, but I was just curious. I just found regular stuff: clothes, first aid, and just ordinary goods. Done with the bag I just lazily brushed it over and I froze when I heard wood hit the ground. It was a small little frame of some sort that had fallen out from his bag.

"Hmm?" I voiced quietly before picking up the frame. I turned it right-side up and saw five people and an egg. One of them looked like Joseph; in fact it probably was Joseph. Then a metallic sound made me jump. It was a silver box with a black button and a speaker on it.

"What is that?" I asked picking it up. I pressed the button and static started to play, then it suddenly vanished. What came next shook me to my core…

"My name is Joseph Marello, and I am a soldier. I am only 14 years old and I faked my way into the Airforce. Why would I tell you this? Because I want someone to remember me for when I die, maybe for not the good in me, but the bad in me, either way is fine. *sigh* I really don't know what to expect when I get home, a hero's welcome or another hell, but this message is to reflect if I perish for whatever reason. Hey, Sarah, if you are listening to this, I might be dead or they just caught me for illegal service, but whatever the case is I still love you, even if you ignored me for another guy, still I care. Don't hate me for that though. Jason is a good guy, I just wish I got the chance to compete, but he still would've been better for you. If this is all a surprise to you, well it should be. I'm probably dead; none of this matters anyway, just don't blame yourself or Jason. I chose the way I reacted, and that isn't your fault. Ok I'm running out of time, I love you both, keep your life afloat and I will watch you from hell probably, small probability of me going to heaven, but I will see you on the other side. Jason, you take care of her ok? Good luck, Private Marello out."

*static*

"This is a message to myself… What the hell did you do Joseph? The life you live is the worst I have ever seen or even imagined. Do you even remember what happened because of you today? Yeah, you got another thing coming. Angela was just killed in action thanks to you. And you think it wasn't your fault? If you hadn't got sick, she would still be here, that pilot who took your place would see his family again. You're really fucking piece of work Marello. Why must you drag the innocent down with you, just do humanity a favor and die alone. No love, no friends, nothing, just yourself and only yourself. Marello out."

(Normal POV)

"I knew this day would come." Elise froze in horror when she whipped her head to see Joseph standing there, a look of sorrow on his face. Elise quickly hid her face in fear of what was to come. "I just never expected it would be this soon."

"Please… I'm sorry!" Elise said on the verge of tears. Joseph sat beside her and embraced her.

"You never need to apologize for something like that. Come on, show your face, and do it quick because I can feel the waves of fear rushing off you." The Gardevoir hid half her face from Joseph, still fearing the worst. "Elise… I can't hurt you. You don't need to fear me, fear only incites despair and violence, please don't feel that way…" The Gardevoir sobbed into Joseph's chest. Joseph still was so thrown off by her fear… why did she fear him?

"…I just feel so horrible for breaking your privacy."

"No, there are no secrets that remain hidden forever. Like I said, I knew this day would come. Just please, stop crying. I need to know what you heard and why you are scared of me." She slowly revealed her face and then her eyes turned into a blue glow.

"Look and see what scars my mind." She gazed into Joseph's eyes, revealing a vision to Joseph.

(Vision- Joseph's POV)

There were cages everywhere and Pokémon inside them… I know this place. This was the Pokémon warehouse we raided only a few days ago. The vision brought me to the back room where the man inflicted 'punishment' on those who disobeyed his orders. Only now, this body was in a pool of blood in the corner, and there was on individual facing the table… doing something to... I can't see clearly… Wait a minute… that's Eli-…

_What does that mean? Is your fear what I think it is? _I asked through my thoughts. My hypothesis, fear of me becoming a power-hungry abomination. By that I mean a moral abomination.

_Yes._

_What?! How can you even conceive that thought?!_

_I rarely talk about my issues, but I need to come clean. How do I know who you really are?_

_Huh?_

_You know what I mean. How can I be sure I can sleep around you and act around you if you will not hesitate to take the life of another man!? Tell me!_ She yelled through my head. I… I don't know. Looking back upon it, I could've just turned him in and he could be alive. _What would stop you from killing me?!_

_I… Damn it! I can't answer you. I can't tell you what you want to hear! All it does drive me mad! On top of that, I ALMOST LOST YOU! I can never let my guard down. There are people, things, anything, everything around us that can target us or worse, you! This doesn't make sense to you, but I need to say it! Maybe I went too far, maybe I am too savage, but all I've ever seen is death and destruction! _I could feel a fire burning in my heart. Elise eased back from my sudden emotional backlash.

_Can I believe that? You kept your whole past hidden from me. How many people have you killed? How many more have died by your hands?_

_You want me to give you a list? Angela! That Gardevoir! All my friends from Regalia? They have all died by my weakness. I never wanted to kill anyone, but all anyone ever does it look at my soul and see the burden of many dead. They never look in deep enough to see that I didn't kill them, but failed to save them. _I started feeling sorrow and tears beginning to form in my eyes as I watched the vision. _Of all the people… I thought I could be close to you. But you are all the same! You can't see my intentions with my life, that means nobody can! _I shook myself from the vision and in a blinding emotional storm grabbed my bag and dashed out of the tent, sprinting as fast as my legs permitted.

_This world can burn. _I said with a fire-like tone.

(Elise's POV)

I pressed him way too hard! His emotions were creating a twister around him I could see! I got up and tried to grab him, but he was already out of reach. So I lined up to grab with my psychic, but he shifted his body to face me and instantly created a blue psychic explosion on front of me, knocking me back. I shook it off and before I could see him, he was gone, out of sight. I wanted to go after him, but I stopped myself, knowing going on my own could be suicide. Then I saw Mars run out of the brush.

"What happened?! I heard yelling and an explosion!" Mars said holding a Pokeball. I pointed to the white forest.

"He ran off in a rage, I can't chase him!" I said. Mars nodded and went into her tent. She came out five minutes later in her Team Galactic outfit. "What are you doing?"

"Going after him, and perhaps a side trip to Snowpoint. Stay here. If he comes back send Purugly." She said tossing me a ball. I caught it and nodded.

"Please bring him back Mars!"

"I will, I promise." She ran off and left me impressed at the same time guilty.

_I promise… perhaps she does have a different side to her… Is Mars her actual name?_

For the first time, I realized… I didn't feel… anything right now. I mean I felt regret for a second… but now… nothing. Now I feel what I did was okay. My mind was conflicting itself, half of my head screamed that what I just did was horrible and un-called for. Another half was agreeing with what I did and I should do it more often. Then another part said I did it out of fear…

"…if you ask me, I say don't listen to your mind." A soothing voice called out from behind me. I looked back and the Lunar Pokémon Cresselia approached me. I had seen this one on the beach yesterday and she had a concerned look on her small face.

"You can sure travel distance quickly." She gave me a hard stare.

"After what just happened, you are worried about that? I would be concerned about my partner." What she said made sense, but I didn't exactly show I agreed with her.

"I just found a link to his hidden past."

"So?"

"And he has been keeping it from me all this time. He is hiding something." I said. The Cresselia sighed.

"Perhaps Joseph deserves better." I didn't believe what I just heard. I gave her a cold stare.

"What did you just say?" She flew so close to my face that I could see her eyes much more clearly now.

"He deserves better. I never get like this unless I know the other is totally arrogant, like Darkrai. You could be worse than him."

"Is that what you think?" I said with a grin.

"It is what I know. You have shown me the proof. I don't need to guess." I gathered a purple force onto my hand.

"I'll make you eat those words."

"You think I am scared of _you_?" The Cresselia seemed to taunt me. "I make another legendary Pokémon tremble on sight. I won't attack unless attacked, so come then."

(Normal POV)

Without thinking, Elise hurled a purple ball at Cresselia that hit her directly. The Lunar Pokémon smirked when Elise saw she wasn't even harmed by the blast. Cresselia instantly hit Elise with a rainbow colored beam- Aurora beam. Elise winced at the impact and again fired a Shadow ball at Cresselia. The Lunar Pokémon quickly made copies of itself with an impressive double team. Elise was completely surrounded by images of Cresselia. The images charged, in unison, a blue and red beam. Seeing no escape, Elise made a blue bubble shield and braced for the impact.

"It never needed to come to this Elise." The Pokémon said.

All the beams hit the shield and continued until the shield shattered and Elise was caught and slammed from all directions, a bright light shining from the impact.

"Ahh!" Elise screamed before the beams stopped. Her vision was fading and she slowly walked toward the one Pokémon before blacking out and falling into the snow. The Cresselia, victorious levitated over to the Gardevoir. She was suddenly filled with remorse when she saw she made Elise actually faint. Her goal was just to tire her out.

"Man, you can sure bark, but you can't bite nearly as hard." Cresselia sighed and needed Elise on her feet again. She closed her eyes and her pink wing-like crescents glowed bright pink. With a slow spin and a small cry, Cresselia shot a small white beam into the air that gently hit Elise, greatly tiring the Lunar Pokémon. Elise came to and she felt so much better. She looked around and saw Cresselia still there.

"What did you do?"

"I revived you. Lunar Dance… Don't make me regret that choice." The Pokémon said catching her breath Elise turned the other direction and walked a distance before Cresselia spoke after her. "…Do you even see what you are becoming?"

"We are who we choose to be." Elise retorted. Cresselia had the power to separate them whenever she felt she wanted, and at this point, she seriously considered it.

_You can't do that. She might make your blood boil, but think of the recoil. _Arceus' voice spoke to Cresselia.

_What? Recoil? … Wait. _She thought deeply and slowly realized that Arceus was right. _Joseph._

_Yes. I am unsure of his true motives with that Gardevoir, but something about coming that close to Elise horrifies him._

_What happened between them?_

_Elise did as I said. She tried to mate with him as my test of Joseph's character. Instead of flat out refusing, an image horrified and shook his entire being into fear or what could happen. When he back away, Elise tried using force, but with his fear swirling around him, she used her psychic powers and awaked Joseph's latent powers, causing Elise to the cower in fear. Elise had never seen Joseph's powers before the cave in the north._

_That doesn't explain her conviction to someone who went through hell to save her!_

_I know what happened._

_What? I need to know!_

_A few days ago, the two of them raided a Pokémon captivity warehouse. There she saw a Gardevoir that was so abused, it shook her. It also shook her to see the brutality of Joseph's choice to kill the man behind all of it. In addition to that, Mars is here. The girl has a good heart, but she thinks otherwise. She hates being around others that can distract Joseph's attention that isn't a Pokémon. She fears he will forget her and go off with Mars. Also, about 15 minutes ago, the thing that started Joseph's run out, was that Elise found a secret link to his past. I showed her part of his past… but not all of it. Now she thinks she is hiding more than just that from her. She feels as if she needs to be on guard and ready to kill at any second._

_Well… What should I do then?_

_Leave her. It is up to her and Joseph to work this out. If they can, I will be deeply impressed._

_Fine…_

"I must leave for now Elise." She teleported in front of Elise and glared with a frozen stare. "Don't ever attack me again; you might catch me on a bad day. Fix this problem with Joseph, or I will do it myself."

The lunar Pokémon then vanished, leaving Elise alone. Her feelings were raging around and all she could do is stare into the dark sky and see a small glimpse of the moon starting to hit the sky.

(Mars' POV)

It is getting so dark. I can hardly see anything in front of me. I was following footprints until I suddenly came to a dead trail. I released Lopunny who shivered at first and made her fur fluffy to keep her body warm. Lopunny was an amazing tracker so she is my best bet at finding Joseph.

"Lopunny, please help me find Joseph. I lost track of him." I said gently to the pink bunny. She nodded and knelt on one leg and felt the ground for a second before standing up and jumping ahead. I followed close behind. I was running better than ever, I wasn't tired, or even sweating, it might just be the adrenaline kicking in. We came to a snow dune and Lopunny was looking over the hill and shook her head. "Thanks, you tried." She said returning the Pokémon. I walked on top of the dune and saw a complex with search lights and fences. Then I remembered… This was an outpost that was setup in the north. Before I could react, someone dragged me down and I struggled to see who it was. The person was Joseph and I thought he was going to kill me. Then he put a finger over my mouth and his.

"Quiet." I made a hand motion pointing to the building. "What the hell are you doing here?!" she whispered.

"I was worried sick! You need to come back." I said quietly.

"No, no. You have Pokémon there right?"

"Oh right… Leafeon."

"Yeah." So I'm going to need your help to get that Pokémon out. I thought for a second. I was probably labeled MIA so they will know me in a heartbeat.

"How do I get in? They know my face." Joseph nodded and sighed in thought.

"I have an idea. Stealth?"

"How?" He pulled out a sniper rifle. "You're serious?! You're going to kill them?"

"No, just gave them a surprise nap. These are tranquillizer darts." I watched him load the gun and prop it on the hill. He gave me binoculars. "I need you to find the power box. Those lights are going to spot us." He could probably see the fear in my eyes and he put the glasses down. "You are shivering. I can do this then. Where can I find Leafeon?" I felt horrible, but he was right. I am no military soldier ready for combat.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's fine. Just get back to Elise and watch the camp. Tell her we will have that 'talk' when I get back." He said putting his armor on. "Is it a boy or girl?"

"Boy."

"Mm hm. Run along." I stood up, not wanting to abandon him. He looked back and for the first time I saw something other than madness in his eyes. "You can't get dragged into this. Go keep Elise Company; please… Is Mars your actual name?" Nobody has ever given a damn about my true name… do I tell him? Or will I regret it?

"My… real name is… well… Look just call me Mars okay? It's nothing personal, I just… don't like my name when others say it…"

"Oh. Okay, well get moving, it's about to start." I nodded and ran the direction I came, looking back at Joseph. I wanted to thank him for putting himself in this much danger just to get my Pokémon… he is an interesting guy.

(Joseph's POV- Night raid)

I was slowly moving my head while looking through the binoculars, looking for the power box. Other than that, I saw two guards, alone. Then I found what I was looking for, a small grey box on the outside of the fence. Then I saw another box next to it labeled: "Emergency power."

"Perfect. I can really stage it well if I do it right…" I checked to make sure I had darts in the gun, and not bullets. I looked into the scope and watched and waited. Then one stopped and I measured the drop of the dart. I had to be quick or they would know something is up. "Steady…"

_Pft!_

The guard pulled the dart out of his neck and looked at it before falling over. I quickly pulled the bolt and shifted my aim to the next one and shot quickly.

_Pft!_

I quickly changed to bullets and aimed for the power box. Hopefully the sound of the gun won't draw attention.

_BOOM!_

The lights died and at that second I pushed myself up and sprinted down the hill. I ran over to the downed guard and knew I didn't have enough time to take his uniform. Sp instead, I took his communicator.

"Hey! What's wrong out there?!" Someone yelled over the comm.

"I don't know! I'll use the backup power!" I said.

"Fine, do it quickly!" I ran over to the boxes and flipped the lights on. I went to the nearest door and listened if anyone was near me. I didn't hear anything so I slowly opened the door. I froze when I heard a single grunt approaching. Quickly I released Froslass and immediately told her to be quiet. The shy Pokémon nodded and I waited until I could see him to jump him. I made sure the headset was off and grabbed the grunt's collar, forcing him against the wall.

"Where is the Pokémon storage room?"

"Ah! Down the hall! First door on the left!" the frightened grunt said.

"Is there a password?"

"Yeah, its 1-9-1-2" He said cowering.

"Good. Froslass, ice beam."

"With pleasure…" Her hollow voice said. The light blue beam instantly incased the person in ice.

"Please watch out for me, I'm going down the hall." I moved down the hallway and found the lock the grunt talked about.

_1-9-1-2 … *beep!*_

The door opened to another grunt sorting pokeballs. He looked my over and I froze.

"You have a strange uniform." Without delay, I grabbed his head and slammed him against the wall before sticking a dart in his neck.

"Sweet dreams." I looked around to find Mars' Leafeon anywhere. Then I found a back room that was labeled: "Executive Pokémon." I sensed Pokémon actually roaming around in there. If I went in there, I could be a new chew toy. I thought and took Luxray's pokeball and released her.

"Huh? What are we doing here?" Luxray asked looking around.

"Getting Leafeon for Mars. I need you to find him and bring him with us."

"You got it Joseph!" She smiled and trotted into a teleporter.

(Normal POV)

The room was wide and bright, even though the door's window made it seem dark. Luxray slowly moved toward Leafeon's quarters and found the Pokémon just waking up from a nap. Luxray… had a sweet spot for Leafeon's personality. Very lonely, but gentle and heartwarming. He turned to see Luxray and he smiled.

"Hey! It's great to see you again Lux. How are things?" He said meeting her outside.

"Mars has left Team Galactic." Leafeon smiled and closed his eyes.

"I waited for this day. Where is she?"

"She is with another person named Joseph. He is outside and will bring you to her. Oh, and he can understand everything we say. He has psychic powers… so don't make him angry."

"I see… okay then, lead the way." Luxray blushed as she turned and headed to the door. The duo joined Joseph and he smiled at the Leafeon.

"I'm Joseph, follow me." They all ran back to where Froslass was and got ready to leave. The grunt started to thaw out and Joseph needed to prevent him from giving away their presence. "Froslass, wake him up please." The Froslass quickly slugged the grunt and he opened his eyes. Joseph had a device in his hand that he placed on the floor. He pressed a button and told everyone to cover their ears. A pulse radiated from the machine and the grunts memory was wiped. Joseph stood up and replaced this mind with a fictional reality.

"What are you doing here?" The grunt asked.

"I was a new grunt sent to repair that faulty light. I came in looking for an electric Pokémon and went to talk to the grunt in that room. She told me to get Leafeon because he is a good…" he struggled to find a good adjective, "…thinker, and we need brains to figure this out. He told me he felt sick so he took a nap. I went to Eterna city to get an important part for the lights. Okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

The four left the building and Joseph returned Froslass and Luxray.

"Thanks you two." He said with a smile and he motioned for Leafeon to follow him. He cut the power again and ran back to the hill before the lights came back. He caught his breath before turning his attention to a shivering Leafeon. It had its eyes closed and was clearly affected by the cold. A Leafeon is like a hybrid plant-Pokémon, making them vulnerable to types like ice and fire. Joseph didn't know what to do. He had given his coats to Elise and he was starting to feel chilled too. He just picked up the Leafeon and started dashing back in the direction of the lake. After about 3 minutes, Leafeon got worse; its once green leaves had a yellow- brownish hue. Joseph stopped and tried to think of another plan then remembered a memory. Elise was kept alive my fire from Flare…

"Flareon! Use Flamethrower on Leafeon!" I said throwing his ball in the air. The orange Pokémon did as I asked and unfortunately… I was caught in the blast since I was holding him. It burned at first, but then it felt nice. Leafeon was hurt from the blast, but better hurt than frozen. Joseph ran again and Flareon followed.

(Joseph's POV)

I was so relieved when I came back to the camp.

"We made it… Leafeon?" I asked needing a response.

"…thanks." I went into our tent quietly to find Elise already asleep. I released Glaceon and laid Leafeon on my sleeping bag. Flareon used his tail as a pillow while Glaceon was still confused as to what just happened.

"What happened?" She asked.

"We just need to warm him up. I thought it would be nice if Flareon had some company." The Glaceon smiled and stretched beside Flareon. I left the tent and went to see if Mars was awake. As I expected, she wasn't. I sighed.

_Night guard is its then. _I said looking for a shot of adrenaline. I injected it and loaded my assault rifle with real bullets. _They can't get us. _I charged the gun and took the safety off. _…Hell if they try. _I climbed a tree and made a perch with twigs and rocks and just stood there, vigilantly staring. As I stared… Guilt started to flood me from hiding my past from my closest friend. Maybe she came on too hard, but she had reason. I just sighed and wondered how I was to explain to her my past… Too many hardships… too many loses… too many failures…


	4. Delay and the Past

Note: To relieve confusion:

[Pokémon speech] (understood by psychic)

_Thoughts- personal POV_

(Elise's POV- dream)

"…Child. It is me." A familiar voice said. I looked around and I was on a cloud again, Arceus on the other cloud just as before.

"Your majesty." I said with a polite curtsey. "What occasion do you bring me here?"

"I bring my findings and Judgment on your companion Joseph." I nodded, holding back horrific thoughts. "You judge him wrong." I almost let out a small squeak. "You fear his past, but he also fears his past. Now he sees you don't trust him, it is only a matter of time until he… kills himself. That is what I foresaw." I heard and ear-shattering scream in my head, which was probably myself.

"…I see."

"I know, young Gardevoir, you seek information. You seek to quell your fears, but you being resentful to him is not helping. It is tearing him apart. How many times have you seen him run off in anger?"

"…never."

"Exactly. You need to start trusting more and believing more… Perhaps I can make you do that. Please, come over here." I shivered and teleported to his cloud. "Rarely do I involve myself with humans. This is a special condition. Let me ask you… Did he actually mate with you earlier?"

"No, he resisted and when I tried to pull him back, it let out his latent psychic powers."

"One of two things: First, he did not rape you. That is a good, large, positive in my book. Second, you do not know what made him jump back. You don't know _because _of his hidden past." He looked down and tilted his head back and forth. "Now to my point. I must ask you a question, you cannot lie."

"What is it?" I asked vigilantly. He looked right through me and said in a cold tone.

"Do you want him dead?" all the heat in my body suddenly turned to an ice cold feeling.

"Do I what?!"

"Answer me now. Do you want him dead?" I was offended he was even asking this! I wanted to punch him, but punching a god is not a good idea.

"No! Absolutely not!" The giant Pokémon nodded with a smile.

"Good. Good. I was hoping you would say that." I cocked my head in confusion. "However." I froze when he said that. "I must shake you to the point where you _will _understand the situation, much like I did before except… this next one is un-ethical."

"What will you do to me?"

"Do you have nightmares often?"

"…yes."

"Well then, get ready for the worst one you will ever encounter… a vision of both your and Joseph's demise… Should you continue on this path of tension, this will be the result."

All I remember after that is a sinking feeling.

(Joseph's POV)

The sky was getting brighter, but I couldn't see the sun because clouds dominated the skies. I checked my watch that read: 4:45 a.m. meaning I've been out here for about three hours. It's not like I was bored, I was just trying to plan out my conversation with Elise. I jumped down from the tree and stretched my legs. I was just walking around the lake when I heard whimpering coming from my tent. I thought it was just the wind, so I shrugged it off. Then it escalated to crying from someone. Curious, I poked my head in the tent. Flareon and Glaceon where next to each other sleeping, Leafeon was still out. Then my heart sank when I saw it was Elise crying.

_I hope it's not another nightmare about a power-hungry me._

I walked in and closed the tent. I threw my gear to the side and sat beside the sleeping bag she was in. I wasn't sure what to do. Leave her to suffer the nightmare? I think that because if I wake her up, she might cower away from me, attack me, or run away altogether. I decided just wait until she wakes up.

(ten minutes later)

I was still waiting, occasionally tossing Flareon's Pokéball up so I can catch it to past the time. Then she started to wail louder now. When I touched her he shot up and her eyes were mostly white from fear.

"Elise…?" I whispered softly. She shot her head my direction and pull me in for a tight hug accompanied by sobbing. I was able to feel her fear, but now I feel regret and worry from her. I returned the embrace, moving with the small hiccups that she let out from her crying. My shirt was now soaked with her tears which made me shiver a little bit. "It's okay… I got ya." I whispered gently to calm her. She slowly looked up from my chest, the white part of her face flushed with a light red. I wiped her eyes from the falling tears and rubbed her back.

"…I-I-I…" She stuttered. I gave a warming smile for her to speak. "I-I'm s-sorry!"

"Hey now, for what?" She shook her head and buried her face in my shirt again. I sighed and assumed what it was. "About yesterday… Look I am in the wrong because I kept the truth from you."

"B-but I was too cruel in my approach." I didn't disagree with that.

"Maybe yes, but we are all huma- er… individuals. We all make mistakes, me more than others, this is no big deal." I almost said we are all human… oh wait. "Just forget about this whole event and we can move along." I gave a light kiss on her forehead and she looked up and smiled.

"Heh… yeah… Still, sorry for pushing you over the edge."

"About that… I suppose it is time I tell you… about that hidden past. From the beginning to now."

"Oh no, if it's private, I don't need to know." She placing her hands on mine. I laughed and smiled back.

"You trust me?" She nodded her head. "Then I need to make sure that trust is backed by something. By that, I mean I need to give you peace of mind. I'll tell you about who I was, and what I try not to be." Elise started to talk.

"No, it's no big-…" I interrupted her.

"It is important that if you are my closest friend you know who I am. It is only fair." Elise looked to her right and blinked twice before looking at me again.

"Alright…" She let go of my hands and placed them in her lap. "I'm listening."

I took a deep breath and began to recall all my life's events.

"I was never a cool kid in school. A school is where humans learn different things. There are other people there and some are… meaner than others. I met a girl named…" I cleared my throat and shivered. "Angela. We were naturally drawn to each other, she being the outcast of the girls group and me of the boys group. People were mean to me, but none ever attacked me, because they knew… I had an un-breakable will to fight for justice. The only thing stopping me from helping others was law. Angela was not the same as me. She had a sense of justice too, but she did not have the strength to back it up."

"Well what about Pokémon, didn't you guys have any?" Elise asked.

"At this point, no. Pokémon are a rare sight on Regalia since all the factories and cities have taken over. To be honest, you were the first one I found that wasn't hurt and or dead. Onto a key part… One day we were walking home together with my other friend, Sarah Fairhaven." The words burned in my mouth. "Sarah and I rarely talked after a guy named Jason came and really make things odd. Then when Angela went to leave down her block… it well… turned…"

(Normal POV- Flashback- speech between the two will look like _this_)

_"Remember how she was an outcast? Well, things got… complicated…"_

"Bye Angela!" Sarah yelled.

"Bye! See you two later!" She blew Joseph a kiss. Then a group of four, one of them Jason, stopped and surrounded her.

"Hey look! It's the dynamic duo, but uh oh… where is your other half?" The largest boy said referring to Joseph. Joseph remained quiet and waited.

"Come on Alex, every day you beat up someone else. Let her go!" Jason said.

"Baby. Now then, gave me your bag." The boy said holding out his hand.

"... what the hell Alex?" Jason said pushing him. Then the three others pushed her down and started slugging her with their fists. Jason tried yelling for them to stop, but they just found fuel to keep going. Joseph, enraged ran across the street and took out two pocket-knives he kept.

"JOSEPH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Sarah yelled. She pulled out her phone and dialed 9-1-1.

"RAGH!" Joseph yelled tackling one of the boys onto the ground. Jason watched in horror as Joseph dug a knife into his forehead and quickly stood up. He was able to get a quick glimpse of Angela, still getting hit by one of the boys. The largest one then grabbed Joseph by his neck and tried strangling him. Joseph struggled and eventually found the strength to slash the boy's wrists, making him scream in pain.

_"Wait, you killed one of them?" Elise asked._

_"No, let me finish."_

Joseph enjoyed watching the guilty suffer. The boy regained his composure and kicked Joseph's hip. Then he tried smashing Joseph back with a rock he picked up but Joseph moved around his side and instantly slashed his throat, making him fall on the ground motionless. Then Joseph shifted his bloodlust to the last person on Angela. He pushed them off the girl and slowly walked toward the teen, horrified when he saw the two bodies.

"You… MONSTER!" He wailed. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" Joseph shook his head.

"… You know never to attack me… yet you think I will stand by while you hit my closest friend? I will deliver justice!" Joseph raised his knife to finish the boy, but was stopped when he heard a gun click and police sirens.

"FREEZE!" The officer yelled. Joseph gazed at the officer and threw his knifes in front of him, putting his arms up. "…what just happened here?" Said an officer examining the scene. He moved toward Angela. "DON'T MOVE!" He ignored them and picked Angela up on my shoulder. She kissed my cheek and blacked out. Joseph carried her closer to the police.

"…just make sure she is okay. I surrender." Joseph put his hands behind his back and placed his head on the trunk. The officer, out of reaction hand-cuffed Joseph and led him to the car. Then he paused and glared at Jason. "You call yourself a defender?" Jason stood there shocked. "If you had restrained them, none of this would've happened. Be a man you son of a-…" He was cut off by being forced into a police car.

_"What happened to you?" Elise asked. "After that?"_

_"I was put on trial for 1__st__ degree murder, but it was in defense of another. They still tried me as if I did it for fun. Anyway, to my surprise, Angela was brought into interrogation. In Regalia, if you murder someone in cold blood for no reason- jail. If you kill more- death penalty."_

(Normal POV- Angela's interrogation)

"So you know why you are here?" A man in a suit asked.

"Yes." She said firmly.

"You say you have a confession, yes?"

"Yes." She repeated.

"Well." He sat down. "Fire away."

"I killed one of those people. I started the fight." The detective's jaw almost dropped.

"You pha-what?" he said stuttering. "You mean to tell me you killed one _and _started the confrontation? You realize that is punishable by death right?" He said to intimidate the truth out of her, but she did not give. She was going to take part of the blame to save Joseph from death.

_"She did that to save you? Did you two love each other?" Elise asked in amazement. She had never thought a human would do that for a friend._

_"As brother and sister. Remember the boy called us the "Dynamic duo" not boyfriend- girlfriend."_

_"So what happened to her? What happened to you?"_

_"Well we were still 14… and a war just started… the alternative option to jail was to serve in the military until death, mutilation, or the end of the war. So, I was offered to join, and I did. Angela… not so lucky. She was put on probation, but was enraged she was not offered to join me. She made a fake Alias and no more than a day after my choice, was accepted into the Air Force, as was I."_

_"Wow… that is the ultimate friendship."_

_"Ultimate? I guess you could say that, if only it didn't get her… well… that is for later. Moving on… I was granted a week before I get shipped off to training and then war. It was a rude way… but… somehow… pleasant… It was at that time, I realized how much I cared for that egg."_

_"Egg?"_

_"I received a Pokémon egg for my birthday. I never knew what it was… Until recently." I said stroking Elise's soft face she smiled and nodded._

_"Continue. What was the goodbye like? This is off topic, but what did my egg look like?" She giggled._

_"It was our last day and I took something heavy that day… both for good… and for bad I now realize…"_

(Normal POV- The Farewell)

Angela and Joseph were at Joseph's house, since her parents didn't want to see her after her lie, which they believed to be true. The duo was at the door, ready to head out. Angela was dressed in her military outfit already, boots, vest, everything, as was Joseph. As he left the door he was stopped my Sarah, Jason watched from afar.

"Joseph!" The girl called from behind him. Joseph looked back and met Sarah on the sidewalk. "Listen… I'm sorry about… you know… running off that night with Jason. I just… couldn't be seen with you."

_"Those words still burn in my head." I said shaking my head. _

(Joseph's POV)

"Yeah well, thanks Sarah. I needed that motivation to leave without sorrow." I said in a cold tone. She realized her mistake and slapped her forehead in disappointment in herself.

"Just… please come back."

"Why do you care, you have him." I pointed at Jason who looked down and walked into the house. "That's all you will ever need."

"You're wrong! Other than him, you two are the only friends I have!"

"Don't lie to me." I said shaking my head.

"I'm not honestly!"

"If I meant that much, then maybe you shouldn't have outcast me like some popular girl."

"Well I'm sorry!" she was on the verge of tears. Hell… I didn't care. I'd probably die out there.

"I'm dead anyway. It's not like your life will be harder without me here. The only thing I'd miss is your look of treason every time I looked your way. The only reason if by luck I get back here, to keep living, is that Pokémon egg in there. You are just a small part. That last thing I need is an apology from someone who wouldn't care if I lived or died. Good. Bye." I said whirling my back to her. I heard her sob and I looked back. "I for one am sorry for slowing you down."

_"This Angela. Where is she now? What happened?" She asked. I sighed and pulled out her dog tag._

_"To humans, this means someone is dead. It has her name on it, just like yours… Oh wait." I pulled out her half. "I found this near the cave." I tied it to her other chain with mine on it. She smiled and rubbed it softly._

_"Now we are tied together." I smiled at her words. "Angela and you were tied like we are?"_

_"Sort of… until… I got sick and… well…" I struggled to force out words I wanted to. Elise rubbed my shoulder in a comforting way._

_"You okay?"_

_"Yeah. That, Elise, is where things began in fall down. If I can recall it was about two years ago since the war started… It was in its final week when… it happened."_

(Normal- POV- Bad news)

Joseph was feeling horrible one morning of a mission. He had fatigue and a mid-grade fever. Angela and him were supposed to fly a mission today, but the nurse at the base said he would pass out if he flew at a high altitude. Reluctantly, Joseph adhered to the nurse's words. A replacement pilot would fly in his place. Just before leaving Angela came to his quarters to check on her friend.

"Hey." She said quietly.

"Hi Angela." She smiled and sat down on his bed. "Sorry, the nurse locked me down."

"I heard." She said brushing her hair out of her face.

"Sorry, I wish I could fly with you, but I can't."

"Hey don't worry about it. It will be fine, just like it always has been." She gave Joseph a quick smooch on the lips and stood up. "I promise I'll be back." She winked at Joseph and left the room.

_"So she just left and was never seen again?" Elise asked kindly. _

_"No, I thought she was going to come back. Then there was an alert and… ugh. Give me a moment…"_

(Normal POV)

Joseph was jolted awake by the sound of alarms. He got up because it could be a drill. Then he realized that is was not a drill because soldiers were actually arming themselves. He stumbled over to the armory where officers were talking. Joseph reached for his rifle and armor before an officer stopped him.

"Stay here Joseph, we got this." The older gentleman said.

"What happened?"

"We have a downed helicopter in hostile territory." Joseph's blood flash froze.

"Angela…?"

"Yes."

"DAMN IT!" Joseph punched a locker. "I need to go get her; I'm not sitting on my ass."

"We can let you do that. There is a team at her location now, she will be back soon."

"Yeah she damn well better be!"

An hour later a knock came on Joseph's living quarters. He opened the door to find the same officer with a box and a saddened look.

"This is all that is left. I'm sorry." He said placing the box in my hand. At this point, I knew she had to be dead. Part of me wanted to set the world on fire, part to at least find out how she died so I could tell her family.

"How did she… you know."

"We have no idea. There was no body, just her dog tag. I'm sorry."

_"I spent the remainder of my deployment sobbing each night. The horrific scenes of war do not come close to my nightmares. And that is where that came from." I said pointing at Angela's dog tag. "Then I came home, enraged and even more upset, seeing as recently my entire family and that Sarah and Jason girl and boy died in a blaze."_

_"Oh Joseph…" She embraced me in a hug. "I had an idea, but I never confirmed it until now."_

_"Then I found you… I almost knew it was the egg that hatched. Do… do you remember where you hatched?"_

_"…no. I only remember hatching in a nice soft bed of softness… like cotton."_

_"So someone put you there… You must be the egg! I did find you!" I said with high spirit. I returned her hug. "The last fragment of my loved ones." I was trying to speak normally, but a high hope of mine was finally confirmed, Elise was that egg… wait… technically, wouldn't that make her like a daughter or sister?_

_"It means so much to me that I mean the world to you." Elise said smoothly. "Now I understand way you reacted when I forced you too hard. The one person you love totally turned her back on you. Sorry…" She rubbed her head un-easily._

_"It's fine. I can live with it. We all have personalities, and you are no different. Maybe I can learn better of yours and we can both be happy with each other." I said gleefully._

_"I'll try not to be a burden."_

_"No worries. Just be yourself okay?" Elise nodded an agreement._

_"Okay, we should get to work then." Elise said standing up._

_"Got it. They should be coming today. I'll contact Venus and check in."_

(Jasmine's POV)

I am shocked how nobody noticed me slip away. While they were leaving, they forgot to tell me where to go. So in absence of a place to keep safe, I will be the fall back. Unfortunately, I have no way of communicating with them. I think it's for the best. My Pokémon aren't the strongest so they would just get in the way.

"Man… Maybe I should've spoke up. Then I could prevent what might happen, should they fail. I'm just too weak to make a difference." I said sulking against a tree. Then I jumped when I looked next to me and saw a Cresselia floating silently. "Wha- why are you here?"

_"You talk yourself down too much."_

"Yeah, but I'm right. I can't control my own Hydreigon. How do I stop a group wanting to destroy the world." The pink Pokémon lowered her head.

_"Maybe I should have a talk with Hydreigon."_

"What? I guess… are you going to talk some sense into it?"

_"…"_

"Well?"

_"I can try my best. I can't promise anything." _I nodded and stood up. I took Hydreigon's pokeball and shivered at what happened last time.

"Come out Hydreigon!" The dragon appeared in a white flash and was drowsy. It looked around and quickly jumped at sight of Cresselia. He appeared frightened at first and flew behind me, quickly realized it was me, and huffed in embarrassment. "It's oka-…" I tried touching his head to calm him but he just moved back. I looked at Cresselia. "See my problem?" The Lunar Pokémon nodded.

(Cresselia's POV- _Pokémon speech_)

_"If I may, I would like your team to come with me for a while. You may follow us if you wish." _I said through telepathy.

"Okay. All of you, come out!" She released her Pokémon. A Servine and an Unfezant appeared and instantly cowered when they saw Hydreigon. "Don't be scared, Cresselia will protect you." The Servine ran up her arm and perched on her shoulder, still hiding in what hair she could find.

_"He is watching me…" Servine said in a worried tone._

_"Just say when, and I'll slam him." The male Unfezant said. It was obvious since he had a pink flight thing on his face._

_"Come with me Jasmine." The trainer followed me to a forest clearing in Eterna. I love spending nights here… and I remember this was the spot I found Joseph and Elise. "Here." I turned to the Hydreigon. "Do you like streams or water Hydreigon?" He huffed._

_"Maybe."_

_"I need an answer hun." I said calmly. She looked away._

_"I used to, but not anymore. I hate water!"_

_"Why? You liked that at first." I said._

_"Hydreigon was attacked by a Dragonite over his home stream. That stream would've killed him, if we didn't intervene." Servine said. "Now he won't get near water unless he needs it."_

_"The small one is right. I fought him and that is what happened." The Unfezant added._

_"You didn't need to save me. I didn't ask." Hydreigon said angrily._

_"Maybe it wasn't for you." Cresselia suggested. The dragon got in her face and whispered._

_"Hmm… just what are you getting at?"_

_"I'm saying it was Jasmine's mind refusing to let a struggling Pokémon die. I can read your mind. You hate humans. Why?" I questioned._

_"Because they destroy, they enslave, why shouldn't I hate them?"_

_"Because this girl cares for you. Look!" The dragon looked at the teen and examined her. "Don't you feel that?" He looked up and sighed._

_"I am one to never let go of my convictions… but I will understand reason. If I went to where a legendary Pokémon needs to console me, perhaps I am in the wrong."_

_"That is very good." Servine said. "I knew you weren't all fire and violence."_

_"Maybe. But I can't understand what goes through her head… What if she is just another slave driver?"_

_"Believe me… she is the opposite. She needs someone like you to help her combat the very people you fear. She needs you to save this world!" I made sure I was relaying the conversation to Jasmine._

"… Hydreigon?" The dragon looked sheepishly at his trainer. "I don't want you to think I am a bad person. I don't know what you went through that made you hate humans, but I will remove those horrible memories." The dragon was awestruck.

_"… a human heart and be hard to understand at times, Hydreigon, but they all have emotions." I said floating beside Jasmine._

_"…perhaps I can… lend my strength. I will judge where it goes from there, but I agree is guess… maybe she deserves a chance."_

_"I have no doubt she will prove herself to you."_

(Venus' POV)

"Caitlyn, you see anything!?" I yelled to the circling Salamence.

"Nothing!"

"Come back then!" The Salamence landed and Caitlyn hopped off. "We should check in with the others."

"Yeah, Kevin! You find anything?" She yelled to the surrounding forest.

"No!" He said appearing from the brush. "No footsteps, tracks, nothing." I went into my tent and looked over the map of Shinnoh. I called over the radio.

"Joseph? Joseph? You hear me out there?" There was static for about 4 seconds before the crackling stopped.

_"Venus? No, all calm up here. I did find the Galactic base, a ton of people there. I'm doing a recon of the hills and forest. I'll check back in five minutes." _Then I called out Mari.

"Mari, you see anything yet?"

_"Nothing yet Venus. Where is Jasmine by the way?"_

"She isn't with you?"

_"No?" _It sounded like a question. Then I totally forgot to give her a place.

"Then she left… No matter, she might have gone to the police. Smart girl." I couldn't be sure. Honestly, I didn't want myself to think that she is part of the team as a double agent. I just shook my head to shake that thought out of my head. "I know where she came from. Everyone stay sharp, let us know what happens."

_"You got it!" _Mari said.

_"… rog'" _Joseph whispered. _"Elise what do you see up there?"_

(Normal POV- Recon)

"Nothing up here, no movement." Elise said vaulting off a tree, landing beside Joseph. She stumbled a bit when she landed, but Joseph straightened her out. Her legs are frail, not nearly as strong as a human's.

"Careful with that Elise, I can't have you disabled." He said rubbing her shoulder. She tensed up and relaxed shortly after. "Say. Don't you usually use levitation to move around?"

"Yeah I do, but I want to be more like you; cunning, brave. If I walk around, I am much harder to detect.

"Aw Elise, you are fine the way you are. Don't change." Joseph said softly. She blushed and looked away. She looked up and smiled again.

"So now we have time… how about I show you how to refine your powers?" Joseph checked his watch.

"Yeah, but be ready for their arrival." Joseph said walking back to the open.

"Hey hold on Joseph." He looked back and beckoned him to come back.

"What's up?"

"Here is good start. Show me what powers you can use this far. Hit this tree in any way you can using powers. I'll watch." Joseph shrugged.

"Alright…" He took a deep breath. He imagined she was just going to evaluate him. He flashed his eyes open and felt what seemed like adrenaline flow through his hand and a blue explosion hit the tree, but did no damage. Elise had observed and nodded.

"Keep going." He just thought he should just mix it up. Next he made his right hand into a fist and felt the adrenaline feeling again before he arced his hand upward and created a heavy shockwave that slpit the tree in two. Elise jumped back. "Whoa!" she stood in shock as the tree slowly fell in two. She looked back at Joseph who had a smile on his face.

"That… was… AWESOME!" He said shaking his hand. Elise's shock left and she spoke up.

"Awesome, but dangerous. From what I see… hang on." She reached into her bag and pulled out a digital clock and placed it on the ground. She walked to Joseph's side and pointed at the clock. "Use the first thing, the blue blast or something, on the clock." Joseph nodded and in a quick under hand motion a different projectile flew from his hand to the clock. Another blue blast followed along with a vibrating sound. Joseph looked at his hand in amazement.

"What did I just do?" Elise walked over to the clock and saw that it was fine… other than the electric parts.

"Electrokinetics… crap." She said with an annoyed tone.

"Wait- electricity?" Joseph asked with wonder.

"Yeah. Tell me, have you ever used regular psychic power? I know you have, in the cave when Glaceon attacked you, you had a barrier… hang on, stand still. I see that power in a bubble around you." Joseph stood still. "You trust me right?"

"Oh yeah." He said nodding.

"Don't. Move." She then stuck her hand out to her side and quickly bent it toward herself and back out again, her arm emitting a green glow when she used Magical leaf. Joseph wanted to move but stood still. The projectiles came near him and stopped in front of him as a blue bubble faintly glowed as the spines vanished on contact. When they stopped Joseph could see the shield around him. Out of curiosity, he moved, and it moved with him. He pushed it, imagining it as a ball and it left his area and surrounded Elise. Elise marveled at this and inspected it. Joseph waited five seconds before it returned to his side.

"You seeing this?" He said. She nodded.

"Try focusing it on me and keep your concentration on me." Joseph pushed the shield to Elise and kept a tight focus on it. After 5 seconds the shield remained it its place. "Amazing… Okay, my conclusion: You have some Electrokinetics- control of electricity and many other latent power that might have awakened recently. I can help you in telekinectic power only." Joseph looked at his hands.

"Electric… how did this happen?" He asked looking at the Gardevoir who pointed at him.

"You were a pilot. Someone who apparently spends time in machines. Everything in psychics is almost as delicate as an Eevee evolving because of its surroundings. You are similar in this case."

"I see… do you think you can show me basics?" Elise smiled and giggled.

"I'd be delighted." She said with a small jump. "So I think the most basic technique is moving things with a light power. Here, take this for example." She held out a stuffed animal of a Starly. "Focus on this little guy and try to lift to your hand. Watch me." She made it levitate just by focusing on it. "You can do it too seeing how far your powers can go. Go ahead." Joseph focused his stare and Elise released it, and it immediately fell into her hand.

"oops." He said with a sigh. Elise laughed.

"Think is if your eyes are firing a beam at the object. Keep it up by willing it to fly." Joseph nodded and did as she suggested. When she threw the plush in the air, he caught it and giving little effort. "Good! Now move it over to your hands." He quickly dropped it into his hands and smiled at the feeling of the plush.

"Cool… My head feels better after using them."

"That is a good side-effect from refining powers. Now onto a bigger task." She shot a pink beam at Joseph and his shield stopped it. "All you know already is essentially all you need. Just to see how far your powers can go, I will see if you can shoot a regular, concentrated beam of psychic energy at me."

"I'm human, not a Pokémon."

"You never know. Try an imagine it." He force his arm in a straight line and nothing happened. "Here. I find it easier if I do this. She crossed her left arm under right arm and forced her arm in a straight line and was successful.

"Hmm… looks complex."

"Try it, you seem to know the basics of projectile psychics." He nodded and crossed his left arm under his right. "Good, now fire it forwards." In a swift motion a beam of blue psychic energy fired and hit Elise. The blast blinded Joseph and he opened his eyes to find Elise gone.

"What the… Elise?!" He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Next time, don't hit me."

"Uhh… sorry."

"Hehe! It's okay silly. Come on, we should get back to watch."

_(Unknown POV- Unknown location)_

_"…So these are the people you observed?"_

_"Yes. These are the ones I dreamt of."_

_"… I am resistant to bring them here. It seems like it is a dark hour for them."_

_"I have seen what will happen; they will stumble upon it and get caught. It isn't that hard master, you have enough to fill the story pages, skills, and relations to fill the books. We just are waiting on you."_

_"Well if it happens, it happens. Do not intervene."_

_"Of course master."_

(five hours later- Joseph's POV)

"What do ya got?" I asked over the radio.

_"Nobody."_

_"Nothin'" _Venus said. _"What are they up to?"_

"What are you thinking? We stay?"

_"I think so. Something might have postponed it."_

"Heh… well I am not going to sit out here for weeks Venus. How long until we call off?"

_"Ugh. I'd give another day. If not we regroup."_

"Got it, I'll contact you then. I'll let you know if anything happens."

_"Good luck Joseph and Mari, I'll see you then." _The radio cracked out and I left my tent and joined the two girls at the lakeside around a fire. I sat looking down, thinking of what to do next. Elise slouched over and got my attention. I looked up and Mars and her had questioning faces.

"How did it go?" Mars asked. I sighed and cracked my neck.

"Nothing yet. We stay another day before we regroup and coordinate again." Mars frowned and crossed her arms.

"I wonder if he is misleading us. They could be at Celestic Town right now hitting the relic." She said pointing to the sky.

"People can't make this stuff up in my point of view. I'm fine with the day more I guess." Elise shrugged.

"Well we got more time to kill. I would suggest a battle, but we have no medicine for Pokémon." Joseph said.

"I would be down for it, but yeah, nothing to heal 'em." She brushed the hair out of her face.

"Why don't we just get to know each other better?" Elise said with emotion.

"What?" Mars and I said in unison.

"Well we are partners… so why not learn about each other some more! I'll start! I personally love the nighttime. The moon makes me look so enchanting, if I may say so myself. Now you!" She pointed at Mars.

"Uh… well I was born in Pastoria city." Then Mars pointed at me.

_Come on Joseph, something positive, think, think damn it!_

"All my Pokémon are saved; not caught."

_That is the best I could come up with?_

"Hey, have you even looked at your Pokémon's skills?" Mars asked.

"No really, I've never thought of that." I said awkwardly. She pulled out a grey device.

"Elise, stand up for a second." Elise stood up and stretched. "Okay watch this." Mars hit a blue button and a regular Gardevoir popped up on the screen. "See this? Commonly known as a pokedex. It is like a massive encyclopedia of Pokémon without the massive size and weight. It is a must have! Read it, you will love it."

"Oh yeah! Cynthia gave me one of those things a while ago… okay so what do I do now?" I asked turning the device and flipping it around like an idiot.

"Oh, just hit that button. Face the Pokémon you are looking at first." I faced Elise who was silently laughing at my behavior. I pressed the blue button like Mars did and another Gardevoir appeared on the screen. I skimmed the information about it.

_The Embrace Pokémon, Gardevoir, is the final evolution of Ralts. Being fully matured, they tend to act more like their trainers rather than wild Pokémon. These Pokémon are almost impossible to find wild and are usually under the ownership of their trusted trainer. Being close to their trainer is not enough for Gardevoir. They will go to the point of death be generating a black hole to save their trainers. This wrecks havoc on their bodies and they usually die on the spot or later._

"Now if you hit this button, it will register you own the Pokémon and give in-depth information." I did what she suggested and then Elise came up, a blue Gardevoir is how I knew.

_Attacks: Dark Pulse, Magical leaf, Reflect, Psychic, Unknown move- type: Psychic_

_Nature: Unknown_

_Feelings check: You and Gardevoir are closer than the average trainer! Well done! You two are a team to be reckoned with, not many things can stand against such trust. Good job._

"Cool!" I said with excitement. I released all my Pokémon in a line and they all stretched after being in a ball for a day.

["I love the snow!"] Glaceon jumped around before calming down.

"So I just discovered something cool and I'm going to try it!" I explained. I was interested on how my team fairs. I decided to go in order from obtained.

_Luxray:_

_Moves: Discharge, Thunder bolt, Iron tail, Slash_

_Nature: Gentle_

_Feelings check: You are close. You are god friends, but there is always room to improve!_

_Flareon_

_Moves: Flamethrower, Ember, Fire Blast, Takedown_

_Nature: Bold_

_Feelings check: You two are pretty close, but not the closest around. Keep pushing! _

_Absol_

_Moves: Night Slash, Razor wind, Megahorn, Superpower_

_Nature: Adamant_

_Feelings: You two have done some things together, but not for a long time. You recently met, and are still getting to know each other._

I awed at Luna's potential in combat. Megahorn _and _Superpower are dangerous already.

_Froslass_

_Moves: Blizzard, Ice beam, Shadow ball, Destiny Bond_

_Nature: Quiet_

_Feelings: You just met each other, but you trust each other already! Keep it up!_

_Glaceon_

_Moves: Ice beam, Water Pulse, Shadow Claw, Ice shard_

_Nature: Shy_

_Feelings: There were some tensions before, and there are still small remainders of it. Working things out, get to know each other and you will be fine._

**I know lately I've been slacking on writing... just distracted in general. Now I feel better so next chapter will hopefully be much better. Leave a review if you please, at this point, critics are welcome. I know I'm doing something off, but what? Idk, i wanna know so this time around I'll take those hits to heart. By that i mean give suggestions other than "kill myself"or the famous "your mom." No I need suggestions, real suggestions. I've warmed up to this site enough so fire away writers and readers, i await your answers, ty.**

**-J**


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